The 12 men and 18 boys of Saint Thomas Choir will bring one of the world's finest singing traditions to Cathedral Church of Advent Monday night.

Based at Saint Thomas Church in New York, the choir consists of professional countertenors, tenors and basses from the New York area and boy sopranos, or trebles, from the Saint Thomas School, the only church-affiliated board­ing choir school in the United States.

Although Saint Thomas provides a rounded education consisting of English, math, history, science and other sub­jects, music is the primary focus for the students, who range from 8 to 14 years of age.

Patterned on the English choir school model, the choir sings five times a week and maintains more than 400 works in its repertoire, from the Renaissance to the present day. Among its many CDs are works by Britten, Vaughan Wil­liams, Messiaen and Durufle, but the singers are equally at home with the music of Judy Collins and Carly Simon.

Monday's program includes music by Gibbons, Taverner, Buxtehude, Bach, Rorem, Thompson and Walton. The ensemble was formerly directed by organist and conductor Gerre Hancock, but has been led since 2004 by John Scott, who was organist and choir director at St. Paul's Cathedral in London from 1990 to 2004.

The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets in advance are $15 for adults, $10 for students and seniors. At the door, they are $20, $15 for students and seniors. Call 443-8553 or 226-3505. Cathedral Church of the Advent is located at the corner of 20th St. and Sixth Ave. North in downtown Bir­mingham.

SHEPHERD MEMORIAL
Memorial concert for Betty Sue Shepherd, the longtime piano professor at Samford University who died last year, will be held next Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Alys Stephens Center.

The centerpiece is Mozart's "Requiem," performed by the Southeast Chamber Orchestra and 200-voice choir from the Birmingham Concert Chorale, Cahaba Chorale, Baptist Church of the Covenant, Vestavia Hills Baptist Church, Mississippi University Women and Vestavia Hills High School. Vocal soloists are Sharon Lawhon, Amy Murphy, Roderick George and William Bugg.

In addition to her 50 years at Samford, Dr. Shepherd was organist for 38 years at Vestavia Hills Baptist. Members of that church hope to make the concert an annual event to raise money for the Betty Sue Shepherd Memorial Scholarship Fund. The first recipients of the fund are Samford University students Matt Andrews and Meagan McCollum, and University of Montevallo students Jordan Hampton, Chad Mills and Trey West.

Tickets for the event are $10-$50, and can be purchased through the Stephens Center box office at 975-2787, or at Vestavia Hills Baptist Church at 979-5920.

SAMFORD ARTS SCHOOL GETS NAME CHANGE

On Wednesday, Samford University's School of Performing Arts will be known as the School of the Arts.

The change reflects the additions of visual and graphic design curricula to the school, which already includes theater, music and dance.

School of the Arts Dean Joseph Hopkins hopes the change will help unify all of the arts programs.

"There's a lot of synergy and strength to be gained by having students and faculty in varied disciplines working together," Hopkins said.

He also hopes to expand the curriculum to include more interdisciplinary arts courses.

Hopkins, Samford President Andrew Westmoreland and Provost Brad Creed will announce the change at three events: